Utoo Radio, April 10, 2024 Two tribal nations are accusing social media companies of contributing to the disproportionately high rates of suicide among Native American youth.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Court names Facebook, Instagram's parent company Meta Platforms, Snapchat's Snap Inc., TikTok parent company ByteDance, and Alphabet, which owns YouTube and Google, as defendants.

Native youth are particularly vulnerable to these companies' addictive "profit-driven design choices," given historic teen suicide rates and mental health issues across Indian countries. The lawsuit describes a sophisticated and intentional effort that has caused a continuing, substantial, and long-term burden to the tribe and its members, leaving scarce resources for education, cultural preservation, and other social programs.

A growing number of similar lawsuits are being pursued by US school districts, states, cities, and other entities, claiming that TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube exploit children and adolescents with features that keep them constantly scrolling and checking their accounts.

New York City, its schools, and the public hospital system accuse the platforms of fueling a childhood mental health crisis that is disrupting learning and draining resources. School boards in Ontario, Canada, claim teachers are struggling because platforms designed for compulsive use "have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn."